Even “All Their Grandfathers” have a father.
It's late and legendary ABC Sports announcer Keith Jacksonwho coined the term for the Rose Bowl game, and it stuck. The last time he turned off the microphone was exactly 20 years ago, after Texas beat USC on that legendary field.
The game was a classic, as was “Jackson,” the Saturday night soundtrack for generations of college football fans. His melodic baritone filled millions of homes with tales of Southerners and Soph-a-morsewith praise for the “big freaks” and shouts of “Hey, Heisman.”
“I can still hear his voice,” his daughter Melanie said as she stood Thursday in the office of the family home in Sherman Oaks, where Keith and Turi Ann raised their children Melanie, Lindsey and Christopher. “Sometimes I come here just to say hello to him.”
Melanie Jackson, daughter of the late Keith Jackson, talks about some of her father's memorabilia.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Jackson, who died in 2018still lives in the hearts of his family, friends and fans, and his countless stories and famous calls are woven throughout college football history (though he covered many sports) and history Rose Bowl myself.
“He knew the Rose Bowl better than any other place,” Turi Ann said as she prepared to gather a small group of families to watch the game, as she does every year. “It was always a special, special day.”
At the entrance to the stadium, Indiana and Alabama fans were greeted by a statue of a smiling Jackson, erected a year after his death. He's clutching a microphone and, as always, impeccably dressed.
The family made sure the statue was an accurate likeness of Jackson, and they thought the early version made him look like Earl Scheib, the guy who built an empire painting cars at cut-rate prices.
A miniature version of the Keith Jackson statue that stands outside Rose Bow Stadium is the centerpiece of Turi Ann Jackson's dining table in their Sherman Oaks home.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
When it comes to getting every detail right, the Jackson family has an expert. Lindsay's son is married to puppeteer and former Disney artist Terri Harden, whose extensive work includes running the face of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters.
If a bronze Keith Jackson stood outside the Rose Bowl, he would look like Keith Jackson, right down to the penny loafers.
In this age of uncertainty and change in college sports, Jackson's memory lives on for millions of fans. He embodied tradition. He looked at the Rose Bowl as sacred ground. The former Marine took his job very seriously.
“He almost never needed more than one take,” Melanie said. “When he wrote the intros to the games, it was like poetry. He would write them down and then speak… He didn't give his opinion, he just told you what was going on.”
How would Keith feel about the state of college football where players make millions and stay at the same school for a few moments? What about UCLA trying to break its lease on the Rose Bowl?
“I don't know if he'll be happy or not. Honestly, I can't speak for him,” she said. “But I think anything that detracts from the authenticity of the game, the broadcast and the viewership will bother him.”
Keith and Turi Ann Jackson were living in Seattle when their daughter, their eldest child, was born. Turi Ann went into labor in the middle of the night and Keith rushed her to the hospital. He was so excited that he was still getting dressed in the car while he was driving. At one point, the police stopped him for speeding and were understandably confused to find a scantily clad man behind the wheel. After he explained that his wife was in labor, they quickly waved him off.
Framed and autographed photo shows Kate Jackson interviewing famed Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Melanie was born on October 18, 1955, her father's 27th birthday. They shared a special bond, and every year on this day the family meets at the statue, holding a bouquet of roses in Keith's hands, opening a bottle of good wine – his passion – sharing stories, laughing and crying.
On that shared birthday, a year after Jackson's death, Melanie swaddled herself in one of his designer sports jackets and listened to her father's favorite song, the Willie Nelson-Kenny Chesney duet “That Lucky Old Sun,” over and over again until she fell asleep.
Happy old sun has nothing to do.
But ride the skies all day
Jackson, a Depression-era child raised on a farm near Carrollton, Georgia, was one of the most successful announcers in television history, but retained some of the mentality of a child who had to use the pages of a Sears catalog for toilet paper. If he made coffee, he would want you to finish the cup or put it in the refrigerator to drink later. His big splurge was having a Snickers bar on the plane when he flew home from a game.
Melanie Jackson (left), Turi Ann Jackson and Sal Crachiolo, Melanie's husband, stand in front of a portrait of Keith Jackson and Turi Ann.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
After Rose Bowl games, the family would gather at Clancy's Crab Broiler in Glendale, where Keith regularly ordered fish soup. He was an ordinary guy who loved to spend time in a house full of plaques, trophies, photographs and footballs.
Melanie said the family sometimes got seats at the Rose Bowl, but it was never a VIP special. They parked far away, walked in with the crowd and watched like regular fans.
Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts, a friend of his for decades, was with Jackson as a color analyst for the 2006 Rose Bowl.
“I’ve watched that game several times,” Fouts said. “I don't know if you could make a better game than him. With his voice and the way he calls the game, it's a real treasure.”
Filled with memories and the echo of Keith's voice, the Jackson home contains too many treasures to count.
